Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner Helps Turn Meek Mill & Others’ Nightmares Into Dreams, Cleans Up Philly’s Dirty Image

Written By Cyrus Langhorne

Meek Mill
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Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner could become the key reason Meek Mill is a free man sooner than we all think. The recently elected DA has wasted little time leaving his stamp on a slew of local criminal justice policies including a decision not to oppose everyone’s favorite Dreamchaser being released on bail.

According to Philly political reporter Shaun King, Krasner has helped give the city hope since winning office last November. A newly surfaced an internal five-page guiding document titled “New Policies Announced February 15, 2018” shows his intent to clean up Philly and help decrease the number of people behind bars.

The first sentence says it all: “These policies are an effort to end mass incarcerations and bring balance back to sentencing.” Then, under the heading “Decline Certain Charges,” Krasner immediately instructs prosecutors to stop prosecuting marijuana possession regardless of the weight. Furthermore, he instructed prosecutors to stop charging those with marijuana with any paraphernalia crimes. (The Intercept)

Another key element of the doc is having prosecutors take a less severe approach to putting together plea deals.

First, Krasner instructed prosecutors to stop the wide-ranging practice of beginning plea deals with the highest possible sentencing and instead, begin those plea deals at the bottom end of the available range of time that can be served. And when less than 24 months is available as a sentence for a crime, house arrest or diversion programs should be used instead of incarceration. (The Intercept)

Last week, Krasner made headlines for not opposing Meek Mill’s attempt to get out of jail on bail.

One day after the mother of Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill publicly asked District Attorney Larry Krasner to help free her son from jail, prosecutors answered the call. “The office is not opposed to him being out on bail,” Krasner spokesman Ben Waxman told NBC10. In a motion filed Wednesday in Common Pleas Court, prosecutors said “there is a strong likelihood of [Mill’s] conviction being reversed” as a result of allegedly false testimony provided more than 10 years ago. (NBC Philadelphia)

Despite his power, the DA’s Office will ultimately not decide Meek’s fate behind bars.

Mill’s release is not up to Krasner, however. That decision rests in the hands of Common Pleas Judge Genece Brinkley, who sentenced Mill to 10 years of probation after his 2007 arrest, then an additional two to four years in prison in November 2017 after he repeatedly violated probation. Mill’s lawyers have since claimed Brinkley is not fit for the case, citing alleged personal and unprofessional involvement. (Philly Mag)

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Written by Cyrus Langhorne

SOHH.com Writer. You're likely to find me covering hip-hop news and music releases. Netflix is still my go-to before Disney Plus.

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